Tavares health clinic owner arrested on charges of Medicaid Fraud

The owner of a medical clinic was arrested today on charges he fraudulently billed Medicaid for more than $300,000 for services never rendered, state investigators said.

Randall Ritch, 46, of DeLand, faces four criminal charges for the Medicaid fraud, which took place from 2009 to 2009, the state Attorney General's Office said today.

Ritch owns Lake County Preferred OBGYN and has a business address at 2766 Dora Ave. in Tavares. For three years, Ritch submitted more than 2,500 claims to the Florida Medicaid program for reimbursement for medical services, according to an arrest report.

However, none of those claims were valid, investigators said. He filed the claims using the name and Medicaid provider number of a doctor who no longer worked for his clinic and the services never actually took place, investigators said.

The physician contacted authorities that her Medicaid provider number was being falsely used in billing and that she would be responsible for any taxes for the Medicaid payments, according to an arrest report.

He faces two counts of Medicaid fraud, one count of criminal use of a personal identification number for using the doctor's Medicaid number, and one count of operation of an unlicensed health care clinic, because Lake County Preferred OBGYN didn't have a valid license from the Agency for Health Care Administration during the time the Medicaid claims were made, according to an arrest report.